Method of making hosiery



Dec. 229, 1936. G, s VAN VQORl-Us 27,066,282

METHOJ 0F MAKING HOSIERY Filed April 19, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 29, 1936. G. s. VAN vooRH'is METHOD OF MAKING HOSIERY Filed April 19, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet-2 vPatentedy Dee. 29, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD F MAKING' HOSIERY setts Application April 19, 1935, Serial No. 17,281

Claims. (Cl. 2-240) This invention relates to hosiery and is more especially, but not exclusively, concerned with womens hosiery.

p It has been proposed heretofore to provide 5 certain types of womens stockings with a -garter top made Iof elastic webbing. The present invention aims to improve hosiery of this general type with a view to providing a thoroughly satisfactory product, while at the same time effecting 1o economies in the process of manufacture. The invention involves both a novel article and also a new method. i

The nature of the invention will. be readily understood from the following description when 15 read in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view illustrating steps in the go method of makingfull-fashioned hosiery in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a similar view illustrating an additional step in the process;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing a completed stocking; I

, Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are plan views on a larger scale illustrating different stocking constructions embodying features of this invention;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view ofthe top of a. stocking showing the manner in which the stocking is closed at the back of the leg; and

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 6 illustrating another embodiment of the invention.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a series of stocking webs immediately after coming off the knitting machine are indicated at 2 in Fig. 1. At this time the stockings are in the flat and in the form of Webs. Each stocking has a welt or hem at its top which has been made by'knity ting a length of fabric, folding it over, placing the extreme edge 'on the needles, and resuming the knitting operation. According to the present invention a strip 3 of elastic webbing, which may be either woven, braided, or knit,

and which has rubber threads extending lengthwise of the web, is run through the hems of these stocking webs, thus Stringing them together. They may be spaced apart by slight distances suiiicient for the convenience of the operator.

5o This elastic strip is then sewedto the stocking tops by one or more lines of stitches, two preferably being used as indicated at 4-4, the. seams running lengthwise of the strip. Due to the fact that the seams are straight and that a series ofl 55 stocking webs are strung together in this manner, the stitching operation may be'performed very rapidly. A double needle machine may be used for this purpose. The seams should be of a type capable of stretching with the stocking fabric or both the fabric and the elastic web 5 may be stretched slightly during. this stitching operation to give the slack required for this purpose. In any event, when this stitching operation has been completed, the entire series of stocking webs will be connected together, and 1o the lines of stitching will run continuously from one end of the strip to the other, or at least through the entire lengths of the elastic webs which lie inside the hems. The stocking webs then are cut apart by severing the elastic strip 15 3, the cutting preferably beingdone substantially flush with the vertical edges of the stocking webs. At4 this time an individual stocking web appears as shown in Fig.,2.

From this point on, no change whatever in go the ordinary method of manufacture is required. It should be noted, however, that the lines of stitching 4 4 prevent the webbing 3 from ravelling during the subsequent handling o f the stockings. In a typical process the stocking webs g5 next go to the seaming machine which puts in the back seam 5, Figs. 3 and 7, thus closing the stocking, and later they are dyed, laundered and pressed. Due to the fact that the ends of the strip 3 are cut ol flush with the edges of the 30 fabric, these ends are abutted together in connection with the vback seaming operation and are secured in this relationship by the stitches oi' the back seam 5.

In this arrangement the elastic webbing is 35 completely enclosed in the stocking fabric, as will be evident from an inspection of Figs. 4 Vand '7, so that the presence ,of this elastic strip does not detract fromthe appearance of the stocking. If the elastic web is held in a stretched con- 40 dition during the stitching operation, it will tend to gather or pucker the top of the stocking slightly, giving this part of the fabric a shirred effect, as shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 7. In some stockings this is desirable, but in other cases it is not 45 necessary and the elastic web is run in in a substantially unstretched condition. Since the rubber threads in the elastic web are under some initial tension, and that tension can be predetermined and made to suit the requirements of individual situations, the snap-back and elasticity of the web may be made entirely independent oi.' any effect produced by the preliminary stretching during stitching. The initial stretching of both the stocking fabric and the elastic web 1s 55 slacl: into the stitches of the seams 4-4 so that ample leeway or degree of stretch of both the fabric and the web is afforded before such stretching reaches the limit fixed by the seams. These lines ofstitching definitely maintain the webbing and the stocking in a fixed relationship to each other at all times.

- lng, as shownl in Fig. 6, such a stocking can be made to imitate the usual hemmed construction more closely. From a functional standpoint, however, it is'vnot essential to'have the web 3 enclosed in the stocking fabric, and lt may simply be stitched to one side of the'A stocking near the upper edge thereof, as shown in Fig. 8, where it functions in the same manner as those constructions illustrated in the other figures. 'I'his arrangement has the advantage of being somewhat less expensive in labor and it is useful in facilitating the production .of special or novelty color effects where the color scheme of the webbingitself may form a part of the design of the top of the stocking. Ul'mally, however, the arrangement illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 is preferred. It will be observed that; in all. of these constructions the lines of stitching areso spaced apart that they: bind the transverse threads of the elastic webbing and prevent this webfrom ravelling. In other words, the `pricksof filling, if the web is of the woven type, are all sewed in by these longitudinal lines of stitching;

It may also be pointed out that inasmuch as the elastic web is stitched to the stocking top substantially .throughout the length of the web, it is not necessary to have this web run entirely around thestocking and ,to have its ends joined together at the back seam. In other words, the web is anchored securely to the stocking by the nnescf stitching, and the abutting of me ends l and securing them together, while preferable, is not absolutely necessary. y

'I'he invention thus provides a method of ,making a stocking with a garter top whichis very inexpensive, avoids any bunching ofthe garter which'would be produced if` the ends were over lapped and sewed together, and in which the possibility of ravelling of the webbing is definitely prevented.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new is: v f

' often utilized, however, to introduce additional 1. That improvement in methods of making full-fashioned hosiery, which consists in running a strip of elastic webbing through the hems at the tops of a series of stocking webs while said stocking webs are ina nat condition, stitching said strip to each stocking web by-a seam running lengthwise oi" the strip, cutting the strip close to the vertical edges of the fabric of each stocking web, and seaming the stocking webs up the backs of the legs thereof.

2. That improvement in methods of making full-fashioned hosiery, which consists in stitching a strip of elastic webbing circurnferentially to the top of a stocking web while in'a fiat condition, with the stitching running lengthwise of said strip and so spaced4 from the edges of said strip asl to bind the transverse threads of` through at least the greater part of the length of the hem, stitching longitudinally through said strip and the stocking web to secure the two together, spacing said stitching from the edges of -the strip sufficiently to prevent the ends of the strip from ravelling, cutting said strip approximately flush with the vertical edges of said web and subsequently seaming the stocking web at the back of the leg and thereby closing said hem f and uniting the ends oi said strip. l i 4. That improvement in methods of making full-fashioned hosiery, which consists in stitching va strip of elastic webbing to the tops of a series of stocking webs while in a at conditipn, with said strip extending parallel to the edges of the tops of the stocking webs and there- 'top of a stocking web with the strip extending by connecting the stocking webs together in a Y string, cuttingsaid strip close to the vertical edges -of each web, and subsequently seaming the stock- 1 ing webs at the backs of the legs thereof to close 

